Improvement in knitting-machines



JOHN H. MUSGROVE, OF STILIAVATER, ASSIGNOR OF PART OF HIS RIGHT TO JOHNOLUTE ANDGrEORGE CAMPBELL, OF GOHOES, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNITTING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 185,345, dated December12, 1876; application filed April 3, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J onn H. MUSGROVE, ofStillwater, in the county of Saratoga and State of New York, haveinvented a Quarter-Saver for Rotary Knitting-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification:

The object of my invention is to prevent the disengagement of the knitweb from the needles when the yarn is broken, by having the yarn passover and in contact with two projections, midway between which, andresting upon the paying-in yarn, is a wire of a suitable gage, which ispivoted at its opposite end to a catch or pawl, which engages or holdsan arm secured to a rocking shaft, to one end of which is secured a cam,which operates vertically immediately within the revolving nee-' dles. Adelicate spring facilitates the downward action of the cam, while ashield extends farther inward beyond said cam, the lower edge of whichis in a nearly horizontal line with the upper extremity of the needles.Said shield is applied for the purpose of preventing frictional contactof the revolving web with the cam when the yarn continues unbroken.WVhen the yarn breaks, the feeler-wire is let fall by the yarn, thecatch is disengaged from the arm connected with the cam-shaft,permitting the cam to roll down on the web, carrying the same below thebeards of the needles, which operation, of course, does not knit, butretains the old or previously-formed stitches in contact with theneedles.

My device may be applied to any wellknown rotary knitting-machine, andis to be located between the landing and cast-0H burrs, and is intendedto obviate the tedious and laborious operation of reapplying orreadjusting the web to the needles, as has been usually necessaryheretofore. It is simply and easily accomplished by the use of mydevice. The mere tension of the yarn, of course, sustains the pivotedwire or yarn-feeler, while the yarn remains unbroken.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and constructthe same, 1 will proceed to describe it as follows:

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a rotary knittingframe,showing the position of my invention as applied thereto. Fig. 2 is alateral elevation of my invention; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of theloop-depressing cam used in my invention.

The arrows indicate the direction of motion of the several parts of themachine.

, A, Fig. 1, exhibits the needle-cylinder; B, the depresser-wheel forclosing the needlebeards. 0 represents a standard, which supports mydevice. Said standard may be at tached or secured to any convenientportion of the knitting-machine, in order to have the working parts ofmy device located between the landing and cast-off burrs. The saidstandard should be so constructed as to admit of vertical and lateraladjustment. A cam, D, Fig. 3, is secured to a horizontal shaft, 6. Saidshaft is fitted to turn or oscillate in suitable bearings affixed to thestandardframe. The shaft 6 is securely driven through the hole 0 in thecam D. An arm,f, is also secured to the shaft 8, which engages with acatch, 9, afiixed or made a part of the osci1lat-. ing shaft h. A longwire, 6, of suitable thickness, is secured to the shaft of the catch g,and extends forward of, and in close proximity to, the sinker-burr,which receives the yarn from the bobbins, this end of the wire beingsupported in a nearly horizontal position by means of the tension of theyarn, which passes over two projections at a proper distance from eachother, the wire being supported by the yarn-tension. The position of thewire is shown by dotted lines, when the same is supported by the yarn,as will be seen by reference to Fig. 1. It represents the yarn drawnfrom the bobbin. The dotted line mm, Fig. 3, shows the position of theupper portion of the needles with relation to the cam D when the latteris depressed. When the arm f is engaged with the catch 9 the cam D is,of course, turned upward above the line at m, Fig. 3, and then the cam Dis above the upper portion of the needles. The shield L is provided toprevent the web or knit cloth from coming in contact with the cam D. Adelicate spiral spring, m, is connected to a lateral arm secured to theshaft 0, the other end of the spring m being attached to some portion ofthe standardframe O as shownin Figs. 1 and'2. The spring misappliedsimply to: keep the arm f in contact with the catch 9.

' An arm, mis also applied-to the shaft 0, which is designed to stop'the'carn atthe proper point in its downward pressure upon the web. Whenthe'yarn'k'is broken, the wire '11 is:let'

fall, the catch 9 is disengaged from' the arm 7 1 f, the spring mpartially actuates the rock- 'ingmoveinent of the can) 1), while therfric-V tional contact of the web with the cam acceler- V V ates itsrocking motion and'downward pressuregupon thestitches, therebyretaining-the" previously-formed stitches on the needles, and rpreventing the web from being 7 cast off alto getl1er,'as would betheresult were my inven- Vtion not applied to the knitting-machine. 0'represents'the needles, and p the web orknit' cloth. All the variousparts of my invention should be so constructed as to admit of theVrequisiteadjustment, The wire '23 can be bent V r V r V to conform toany required position it is to occupy, an d'may be cut to therequiredlen gth,

in order to extend forward to the yarn-guide, V V

which, of course, is located in front of'the sinker-burr; 'T'hetwoprojectionswhich support the yarn, as before referred to, may beattached to said yarn-guide.

7 It will be readily observed that the tension of the yarn, whenunbroken, between the bob- 7 r bin and needles, sustains the end of thewire has above described; V r 7 Having thus described my invention, whatI claiinas newgiand desire tosecure by Letters Patent, isas' follows: rr r The combination, with a drop-wire, i, of the 'shaft'h iotchedas'shown at 9, arm fleam 1), V V

shaft'e, and'spring m, operating as set forth. 1

JOHN MUSGROVE.

Witnesses:

J. W. LATCHER, V UiG WINNEY.

